Disc drives are data storage devices that store digital data in optical, opto-magnetic, and/or magnetic form on a rotating storage medium on a disc. The typical disc drive includes a base plate on which various structural components are mounted. The various structural components include, for example, a disc, an actuator assembly, and a spindle motor rotating the disc. Modern magnetic disc drives comprise one or more rigid discs that are coated with a magnetic medium and mounted on a hub of the spindle motor for rotation at a constant high speed. Information is stored on the discs in a plurality of concentric circular tracks typically via an array of transducers mounted to a rotary actuator for movement of the heads relative to the discs. The discs drive motor assembly, collectively known as a head/disc assembly (HDA), a devise having all control electronic circuits integrated above the base plate, and the actuator are typically enclosed on the base plate by a cover forming a sealed environment to prevent contamination within the system that could result in disc failure.
The typical disc drive also includes a printed circuit board assembly that provides the majority of the electronic circuits necessary for control of operation of the disc drive, including controlling positioning of the actuator and transducers. This printed circuit board assembly is mounted outside the sealed head disc assembly traditionally, beneath the disc drive plate on an underside surface of the base. Input and output signals are fed to and from the disc drive via the printed circuit board circuitry and the HDA. These signals are typically supplied to the HDA via a pass-through connector that extends through and seals an opening into the enclosed head disc assembly and then through a flexible printed circuit cable to the actuator assembly. The printed circuit cable has one end physically terminating on the actuator assembly and the other end connected to the pass-through connector. These terminations inherently exhibit losses.
One problem that has arisen with this design is that it necessitates several connections between the components on the printed circuit board and the flex-circuit cable, which increases the losses in the electrical circuitry system. Accordingly there is a need for a disc drive system that reduces or eliminates these problems. The present invention provides a solution to this and other problems, and offers other advantages over the prior art.
In addition, the printed circuit board, the pass-through connector and flex-circuit cable are traditionally attached to the base plate and then physically electrically connected to each other in separate steps. Because the manufacturing process currently requires these separate steps, it is also desirable to provide a system that eliminates some of these steps.